Improvement in rectifying high-wines



filata ilhulrt Letters Patent No. 112,818, dated March 21, 1871.

' IMPRovEMENT m Reer-Irvine HIGH-WINES.

The' Schedule referred to in theseLetters Patent and making part of thesame.

I, ARCHIBALD K. Lun, of Galveston, Texas, have invented an Improved Modeof Rectiiying High-Wines or Spirits, distilled from grain or any othermaterials iipm which they are made, ot' which the followingis 'aspecification. y

My inode of rccticationfinvolves the use of an apparatus which, althoughcomposed of elements or parts that, separately considered, may not allbe new, yet presents as a whole a Iovel combination and arrangement,whereby I secure, among others-of minor importance, the followingeconomical advantages:

lam enabled to make far 'better spirits than can be done by any otherknown process or means, and at comparatively much less cost, because myappara'- tus is more compact,l and therefore requires lessroom or spacethan any-other rectifymg apparatus in existence of the same "capacityol-power5 becansc,fur ther, iti-provides a very gre'atiucrease ofrectit'ying surface as compared with any other apparatus, rcquires lesscost and labor, and is more durable than any hitherto devised. It is,moreover, infinitely superior in cleanliness of'operation to lany otherapparatus, and when it does become foul, which scarcely'ever can occurwithin a period less than oneyear, it can be thoroughly cleansed andrepacked iu three hours time or-.lessg' whereas, it is well known mostrectifying establishments need to be cleansed-every week to scure goodresults.

Furthermore, my invention guards again-st any possible chance of lossfrom eaporation, leakage, or waste of any kind, because the tubs arecomparatively air-tight, and, therefore, the rectilication tl'noughoutthe whole process is carried on in. vacuum, which characteristicfeatures edectually prevent the evaporation, -which iu allothcrmethodshitherto known have been au inseparable and most annoying accompanimentofthe process of rectifiation.

But my apparatus will be more easily understood by reference to thedrawing, which presents al1-.-

Figure 1 a side elevation of it, and at Figure 2a vertical sectionthrough the center of one of my rectifying-tubs.

On the drawing the letter A marks the receivingtub for the spirits to herectified, in which the opening through which the same is poured in isprovided with auair-tight cover, a., so contrived as to'be readily movedat intervals, as the process goes on, to permit an ingress of air, sothat no resistance to the pumping up of its contents through a pipe, B,into the distributing-tub C may result from'theivaeuuni, which otherwisewould be produced by this operation. The cover a. being air-tight whenin place, obviously prevents loss from evaporation.

My rectiilying-tnbs, of which there are four in number, are placed inrelation to .the distributing-tub O,

and to each other, substantially as 'shown on` the drawing, andnumbered, in the order in which they stand with respect to said tub, No.1, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4, as seen.

No. l is placed several feetbelow the distributingtub; No. 2 a littlebelow No. 1 No. 3 the same distance lower than No. 2; and No. tequallylowerA than No. 3, so that the liquid owing from the distributingtubthrough all four of these 'rectifying-tnbs will descend with anaccelerating, hydi.. A"ic power from No. 1 to and through No. 4,' andtherefore pass more and more rapidly through the-rectifying substance inthe different tubs as the purification approaches nearer and nearer tocompletion.-

The distributing-tub O is connected to rcctifyingtub'lSTo.v l by asingle pipe, D, in which there is a stop-cock, b, to regulate the flowof the liquid, or to cut itoi altogether if occasion should require it.A

On the other hand all the rectifying-tubs are con'- nected, eacli withthe next below it, by two pipes c d, all of which are provided withstop-cocks.

The pipesV d are the conduits proper for the liquid after it haspassedthrough the rectifying substance in No.1, from or near the bottom of onetub into or near the top of the next succeeding one, and so on throughthe series', the more` eiiectually to secure the passage of the liquidthrough the rectifying suhstance in Nos. 2, v3, and lle.`

The pipes c are mere vwaste-pipes, to carry off any excess oi' liquidfrom one tub to another, andare most of the time closed, by means ofthevstop-cocks in them.

Each rectiying-tub .is provided with a glass indicating-tube, t', and astop-cock, o, the former to show thel precise height of the liquid, andthe latter to draw off any surplus that may remain in' the several tubsafter the process of rectification is completed.

From No. 4 thehquid, now thoroughly rectified, passes through-a pipe, E,into the recipient F, from which it is drawn into barrels or othervessels by means of a stop-cock, g.

The stop-cock o, employed in connection with tub No. 4f, is connectedwith a pipe, G, in order that any excess of liquid remaining in thistub, which, ofcourse, will be rectiled, may be Adrawn into the recipientF.

.All the tubs are likewise provided with a pipe, H, as `shown in 4; oftig. l and fig. 2,-so constructed that an air-pump 'may be connectedwith it, for the purpose of exhausting the air from the rectifying-tubsand producing a vacuum therein before the process Of'recticatiou iscommenced-v A stop-cock, h, closes this pipe whenever it is not in use.

The recipient F is placedin a waste-pan J, from which a pipe, K, leadsYinto the receiving-tub A, for the purpose of conveyingany spi ritsaccidentally spilled in withdrawing it from the recipient F, and therebybe saved from waste.

The internal construction of my rectifying-tubs is peculiar.

I provide in them two open spaces, L and M, the latter at the bottom andvery much shallower than the former. The rectifying substance N isplaced between these open spaces and protected or kept in place, aboveand below, by perforated metallic diaphragms P S.

To prevent the buoyancy of the material `of which the rectif'yingsubstance is composed from lifting the diaphragm I ont of place andbecoming thereby too much loosened, I employ two wooden transverse barsK T, between which I place avertical brace or stam chion', W, as shownon the drawing at `fig. 2.

To make the rectiiying-tubs air-tight, the covers V are all accuratelyfitted on them, and maintained in placer' by means of' screw-bolts X,passing through them, and through lugs projecting outside the tubs, neartheir tops, as shown also at tig. 2.

l/Vhat I claim is 4 The .receiving-tub A, the;distributing-tub C, andthe rcctifying-tnbs l 2 3 4, having` a pipe, H, attached, each beingconstructed as stated, and so combined and arranged as to furnishawacuum apparatus for the rectifying of high'wines or other like productof distillation, substantially as described.

Witnesses: ARCHIBALD K. LEE.

H. J. Dussen, E. H. LEVY.

